The federal cabinet on Wednesday approved an amendment to the Pakistan Army Act in light of the Supreme Court’s directions last month in a case pertaining to extension in the tenure of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, a private TV channel reported.
Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired an emergency cabinet meeting to review the amendment in the law for extension in the army chief’s services. The amendment bill, passed unanimously, were made to the clauses related to the army chief’s tenure and extension. According to the report, it is expected that the government will table the bill in the parliament’s current session.
The federal government has convened the upper and lower house of the Parliament to meet on a 24-hour notice period for this purpose. PM Imran is expected to take the opposition into confidence over current political developments and impending legislature.
According to the TV channel, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak said that the cabinet approved amendments in Section 172 of the Army Act 1952, pushing the age of retirement for all three services chief to 64 years. The amendment bill includes a suggestion to extend the tenure of all the three service chiefs, Khattak was quoted as saying.
The bill defines the service period of the army, air and naval chiefs and the chairman joint chiefs of staff committee (CJCSC) and lays out the procedure for an extension in their services. According to the amendment bill, the president will be able to extend the tenure of any service chief by three years on the advice of the prime minister.
Earlier in the day, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry told the National Assembly that the government is likely to make amendments to the Army Act this week. He said there is a need for a national agenda to take matters forward. “How can Pakistan move ahead when there is a huge gap between the government and the opposition?” he questioned. The minister asked how could the system work if there is no legislation on the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan Army Act and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The government and the opposition will have to bridge the gaps, at least on national issues, he reasoned.
Fawad said Defence Minister Pervez Khattak heads a government committee which is in talks with the opposition parties regarding legislative matters. “They need to inform us as to what they agree on in the amendment and what they don’t agree with,” he said. “We need consensus on the accountability, ECP, and the judiciary. [God-willing], we shall move forward with mutual consent,” he maintained.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had extended Gen Bajwa’s tenure through a notification in August last year, but the apex court had suspended it on November 26 due to irregularities in the manner of extension. On November 28 last year, the Supreme Court in a short order had ruled that Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa will remain the chief of army staff for another six months, during which the parliament would legislate on the extension/reappointment of an army chief.
The Supreme Court, in its detailed judgment, had emphasised that it was now up to the parliament to carry out legislation which would provide ‘certainty and predictability’ to the post of COAS for all times to come. “We would like to emphasise that this crucial matter of the tenure of COAS and its extension, which has a somewhat chequered history, is before the Parliament, to fix for all times to come,” wrote Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, a member of the three-judge bench which heard the case, in the court’s 43-page judgment. “It is now for the people of Pakistan and their chosen representatives in the Parliament to come up with a law that will provide certainty and predictability to the post of COAS, remembering that in strengthening institutions, nations prosper,” the court had noted.
On December 26, the government submitted a review petition against the top court’s verdict and asked that it be set aside. The petition was filed under Article 188 of the constitution dealing with the review jurisdiction under which earlier orders of the court can be altered only if some error is highlighted, as well as under Article 187 that empowers the top judiciary to issue directives to do complete justice.
